21 replies to this topic

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

Well, I always said I'd get a PS3 once the Wii runs out of games I like to play, so here I am

First things I did were installing Vidzone and Mubi, as well as downloading some 80 game demos. Being from Germany I had to register an extra account for the UK shop, so with my 36 years I can now safely download 18+ demos as well

What else should I do as a new owner? Is Home worth a try?

Also, two problems I have:

- Anything I can do about the small fonts? On 1080p I have to sit almost in the screen to be able to read anything.

- I don't have a BD yet, but my plain old DVDs (e.g. remastered Star Trek Classic) look horribly grainy on the PS3, especially when compared to our DVD player. I'm on HDMI already, TV is full HD. I may be missing an option? Or does Sony just screw DVD output on purpose to demonstrate the superiority of Blue Ray?

Oh... almost forgot the games... I actually have Heavenly Sword, Oblivion and Valkyria Chronicles already, but didn't get to try one of them so far, as the demos are still keeping me busy

Greetings,
Manuel

[cimerians]

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:59 AM, said:

Hi there!

Well, I always said I'd get a PS3 once the Wii runs out of games I like to play, so here I am

Finally!

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:59 AM, said:

First things I did were installing Vidzone and Mubi, as well as downloading some 80 game demos. Being from Germany I had to register an extra account for the UK shop, so with my 36 years I can now safely download 18+ demos as well

What else should I do as a new owner? Is Home worth a try?

In my opinion? No. Others here will protest but I have not found anything worthwhile on it since I'm anti-social and hate advertisements.

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:59 AM, said:

Also, two problems I have:

- Anything I can do about the small fonts? On 1080p I have to sit almost in the screen to be able to read anything.

- I don't have a BD yet, but my plain old DVDs (e.g. remastered Star Trek Classic) look horribly grainy on the PS3, especially when compared to our DVD player. I'm on HDMI already, TV is full HD. I may be missing an option? Or does Sony just screw DVD output on purpose to demonstrate the superiority of Blue Ray?

It seems you have a bizarre hookup cause you should not have any of those issues. Are you sure you have a 1080P hookup? HDMI cable going to a true 1080p HD LCD\PLASMA?
I have no issues like that and my DVD's look way better on my PS3.
My hookup:
HDMI cable to Sony Bravia 1080P with PS3 screen settings set to 1080P settings. I have all the default PS3 screen settings. The only thing I have changed is my audio to optical.
DVD's, PS1 games...everything looks great.

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:59 AM, said:

Oh... almost forgot the games... I actually have Heavenly Sword, Oblivion and Valkyria Chronicles already , but didn't get to try one of them so far, as the demos are still keeping me busy

Greetings,
Manuel

Those are great. There's a ton more. Demons Souls is a must if you are a hardcore RPG nut and I have to recommend a few more:

Uncharted 2
God of War I-III
Tomb Raider Collection (coming soon)
Sly Cooper Collection
Pinball Williams Collection
Pixeljunk Monsters (download)
Wipeout HD (download and in the UK I think a Disc is available)

Non-exlcusives:
Dragon Age
Fallout 3
Red Dead Redemption

Have fun!

[Cybergoth]

cimerians, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:05 AM, said:

Those are great. There's a ton more. Demons Souls is a must if you are a hardcore RPG nut and I have to recommend a few more:

Uncharted 2
God of War I-III
Tomb Raider Collection (coming soon)
Sly Cooper Collection
Pinball Williams Collection
Pixeljunk Monsters (download)
Wipeout HD (download and in the UK I think a Disc is available)

Non-exlcusives:
Dragon Age
Fallout 3
Red Dead Redemption

Thanks for those suggestions, I might just try all of them over the course of the next year.

I also got a €40.- Amazon gift coupon for christmas, which I'm considering to spend on Bayonetta and Tools of Destruction.

From the demos (I played ~ 15 already) I liked Deathspank so far, so I might also get some PSN credits.

[HammR25]

The original Uncharted is good too. If you like platformers both Ratchet and Clank games are good. There's also a smaller downloadable Ratchet and Clank game called Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty that's between Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time.

DVDs look great on my PS3.

[Cybergoth]

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:53 AM, said:

I also got a €40.- Amazon gift coupon for christmas, which I'm considering to spend on Bayonetta and Tools of Destruction.

I actually went with Bayonetta and Bioshock. I'm currently downloading all three R&C demos, so I might get Tools of Destruction next month for my birthday

[remowilliams]

Cybergoth, on Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:59 AM, said:

Well, I always said I'd get a PS3 once the Wii runs out of games I like to play, so here I am

Welcome to the next generation!

Lots of great gaming to be had, but top of my head exclusives - the Uncharted games.

[Cybergoth]

Uncharted is on my list, thanks!


Another little problem:

With having always the full 30 titles in the download queue, I thought it'd be clever to just leave the thing on over night, in order to get a couple of extra GBs shifted my way. But every morning I find that the console instead has powered off itself...

[Underball]

It has an auto shutoff feature built into the os. You can turn it off, or set it to turn off after no use for anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. I think the is default is set to 5 hours.

[DaytonaUSA]

Welcome to PS3 . I think you'll quite like it. I went from Wii to the 360 and PS3, and didn't regret anything.

I agree, WipEout HD is amazing. Get both HD and Fury.

Some others that are worth getting:

GT5
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
3D Dot Game Heroes (old school Zelda (even with the same enemies) but in 3D with a few twists and good humor)
Tumble and Sports Championship (if you have a Move)
Sega and Sonic All-Stars Racing (if you like Mario Kart, this blows it out of the water. Online is fun too)
DJ Hero (usually not into music games, but this one is really fun and has great music)
If you like baseball MLB the Show is amazing.
Flower (yes, I actually liked it)
Super Street Fighter IV
Marvel VS Capcom 2 (download)
Batman Arkham Asylum (YOU NEED TO GET THIS GAME)
Little Big Planet


Again Uncharted 1 and 2 are fantastic as well, among others previously listed. You'll find a lot to love on the console. Have fun!

[Cybergoth]

Underball, on Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:46 AM, said:

It has an auto shutoff feature built into the os. You can turn it off, or set it to turn off after no use for anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. I think the is default is set to 5 hours.

Ah, thanks. I found it now under the power saving options.

DaytonaUSA, on Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:07 AM, said:

Batman Arkham Asylum (YOU NEED TO GET THIS GAME)

I'm not so much into racing/sports, but this one I'll check out!

[cimerians]

Yeah the Batman game is amazing, I completely forgot about that. A sequel is in the works.
I wish they can do more superhero games like Asylum.

I heard that Spidey Shattered Dimensions is pretty good.

[Underball]

Yes, Batman arkham asylum is simply amazing.

Also the Ghostbusters game is good fun. Not groundbreaking, but if you liked the movie(s) you'll love the game. Cheap too, now that it's been out a while.

[liveinabin]

Hallo Manuel! Gone all hi-def on us. Nice.
I must recommend Everybody's Golf: World Tour. You can pick it up cheap now and it's just perfect.
Flower is a rather lovely game too.

Surprised about the DVD playback quality. There are settings for upscaling in the video options. I've found the video quality to be pretty good. Sound is perhaps a bit more flat than a decent dedicated player though.

[Cybergoth]

liveinabin, on Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:29 AM, said:

Surprised about the DVD playback quality. There are settings for upscaling in the video options. I've found the video quality to be pretty good. Sound is perhaps a bit more flat than a decent dedicated player though.

I still need to check some other sources, so far we're still watching through the 2nd season of classic Star Trek. Maybe the higher output quality is actually the problem...

I think I saw demos for the two games you mentioned, so I'll try them.

[onmode-ky]

Cybergoth, on Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:28 AM, said:

With having always the full 30 titles in the download queue, I thought it'd be clever to just leave the thing on over night, in order to get a couple of extra GBs shifted my way. But every morning I find that the console instead has powered off itself...

Assuming this hasn't been changed recently, if you have downloads going when you scroll all the way to the left of the XMB and choose to shut off the system, it asks you if you want to shut off right now or do so after all downloads are complete. Thus, you can get the optimal solution of getting all your downloading done while you sleep along with not wasting any power.

onmode-ky

[Cybergoth]

Another PS3 newbie thing I noticed:

It seems to require the console to be up and running when I want it just to recharge the controller? That seems to be exceptional silly, because when playing I play wireless, so in order to charge the controller I have to have it ON over night, no?

Or am I missing again something like a charge-on-standby option?

[Underball]

You are correct, it only charges while the system is on. That's why there are lots of 3rd party charging stations on the market. However there is an easy and important answer.

When you're done playing, just go back to the XMB (menu), leave your system on, and plug your controller in to charge.

If you set the auto-shutoff to 1 hour or more, you get 2 benefits here:

1. The sixaxis controllers only take about 1 hour to charge, so you should get pretty close to a full charge before it shuts down automatically.

2. Leaving the system on and letting it cool down naturally after a gaming session is MUCH better than shutting it off cold when it's all heated up. This will prolong the life of your PS3 and lessen then chance of the dreaded YLOD.

Edited by Underball, Fri Jan 7, 2011 8:30 AM.

[Bilnick]

Cybergoth, on Fri Jan 7, 2011 3:04 AM, said:

Another PS3 newbie thing I noticed:

It seems to require the console to be up and running when I want it just to recharge the controller? That seems to be exceptional silly, because when playing I play wireless, so in order to charge the controller I have to have it ON over night, no?

Or am I missing again something like a charge-on-standby option?

Often a cable or satellite TV box will have a USB port which you can use to charge your controller when your PS3 isn't on. Or use your PC. It would have been nice if Sony had included a 6-10 foot USB cable so you could actually play and charge your controller, but that might have cost a dollar more and we can't have that.

[Cybergoth]

Some very good advice, guys. Thank you very much! I didn't realize that any USB device can recharge the controller, so using the PC is indeed a viable option.

I'll also go with Underballs advice of letting the system cool down for an hour. Another solution I figured out myself in the meantime is buying a second controller, so I can just take turns using them. And I'll need it for RE5 coop anyway

[cimerians]

Cybergoth, on Fri Jan 7, 2011 9:20 AM, said:

Some very good advice, guys. Thank you very much! I didn't realize that any USB device can recharge the controller, so using the PC is indeed a viable option.

I'll also go with Underballs advice of letting the system cool down for an hour. Another solution I figured out myself in the meantime is buying a second controller, so I can just take turns using them. And I'll need it for RE5 coop anyway

RE5 co-op is fun. Let know if you want to play online!

I'm loving the fact that playing online is free on the PS3. I have two systems right now and I REALLY appreciate it now then I ever have before. I havent experienced any issues playing RE5, Resistance, UNO or any game that I own these days. Its so much fun having more than one system in the house and having family members play with you and not be required to pay anything. They can even login to there own account on a second system (thats been activated by me) and earn trophies and play online (in another part of the house) and have fun.

Thumbs up to Sony for this.

I wish I could do the family pack on the 360 but I missed out on the deal Microsoft had over the holidays.

[Underball]

One other bit of advice, although this one has been debated a bit on the net:

Obvious: Always keep the PS3 well ventilated, and occasionally vaccuum the dust out of the intake vents. Do not run it inside an enclosed TV/entertainment center. If you keep it in a cabinet/Ent. center - make sure the doors to it are open while using the PS3, and make sure there is full air passage in front and behind the PS3.

Now the controversial part:

Run it laying flat, horizontal at all times.

Although the PS3 can be run vertically, the chance of Heat problems and YLOD are greatly increased when it is standing vertical. At first glance, it would appear to be just the opposite. In the Vertical position, the heat dissipation vents are at the top, so heat would vent up, naturally (heat rises). But that's not really the issue. The problem in the vertical position is gravitational pull on the heated up components.

The reason YLOD happens is because of the cheap non-leaded solder used to surface mount the PS3's CPU and GPU to the mainboard. Instead of pinned and socketed chips like a PC, they are soldered directly to the board. But Sony used cheap non-lead solder, which can soften quicker when heated, then crack and disconnect when it cools down. The more rapidly it cools down (i.e. not letting it cool down and vent on it's own for an hour or so after gaming), the worse the problem is. But when you also add in gravity pulling the vertically standing components apart and down - it's a disaster.

So let your PS3 get laid. Flat.

Edited by Underball, Fri Jan 7, 2011 10:35 AM.

[remowilliams]

Underball, on Fri Jan 7, 2011 10:34 AM, said:

One other bit of advice, although this one has been debated a bit on the net:

Obvious: Always keep the PS3 well ventilated, and occasionally vaccuum the dust out of the intake vents. Do not run it inside an enclosed TV/entertainment center. If you keep it in a cabinet/Ent. center - make sure the doors to it are open while using the PS3, and make sure there is full air passage in front and behind the PS3.

Absolutely, advice for any modern high power console. Which would currently be the 360 and the PS3.

The PS3 throws lots of heat out, and if you cage it up then you're just asking for it.